Monthly Archives: February 2010

Wealth management clients might well ask what they are paying for, and whether they are getting value for money.

Although traditionally wealth managers have prided themselves on inhouse research, they are starting to concede they may not be quite up to the job. Recent research found more than 39 per cent of UK wealth managers felt their equity research coverage was inadequate, whether sourced entirely inhouse or using a mixture of inhouse and external sources.

Although they admitted to qualms about the independence of research from the sellside, there seemed to be a general reluctance to shell out money for more independent material.

And as well as worrying about how independent the research is, the wealth managers who responded to Scorpio Partnership’s research for S&P were concerned it might get a bit heavy on facts, so likely to cloud the issue. Apparently what they look for is “the ability to tell an investment story as opposed to getting bogged down in the facts”.

Surely most of their clients, whose money they are managing, are quite keen for investment decisions to be based on those boring facts?

Do fund managers do what they say? Well, it seems not. At least when it comes to the frequency they change portfolio stocks.

Some equity fund managers have higher portfolio turnover rates than they claim, according to Investment Horizons, a report by Mercer, the consultants, and New-York based Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute.

Hedge funds and private equity groups have raised concerns about the risk of creeping protectionism in proposals made by Spanish diplomats to re-write European Union legislation to regulate their industries, report Nikki Tait and Martin Arnold.

The FT journalists found that the compromise proposal is still not ticking all the right boxes. Here’s an excerpt..

Angelien Kemna will effectively be responsible for the pensions savings of a quarter of all Dutch employees. FTfm’s Face to Face interview looks at the task ahead of APG’s new chief investment officer.

Angelien Kemna has been hailed by the Dutch national press as the country’s most powerful woman in finance. Three months ago, Ms Kemna started as chief investment officer of investment company APG, which looks after €205bn of assets, primarily on behalf of national civil pension fund ABP.

It has often been observed that investors can make more money by buying shares in fund management companies than by buying their funds.

On this basis, Affiliated Managers Group, a US quoted company with $231bn under management, could be a particularly good investment. It holds stakes in a range of asset management boutiques, taking a share of revenues in return. Today, it revealed a deal with Artemis Investment Management, the UK-based fund manager that has passed through the hands of ABN Amro and Fortis Investments (now a subsidiary of BNP Paribas).

About the blog

FTfm is no longer updated but it remains open as an archive.

FTfm's specialist writing team offer their insights into the global fund management industry.

About the authors

Pauline Skypala has been editor of FTfm for four years having previously been deputy personal finance editor. She joined the FT in 1999 and has been writing on savings and investment issues throughout her career.

Steve Johnson, FTfm deputy editor, has been a journalist for 17 years, 10 of which have been with the FT.

Sophia Grene, reporter on FTfm, has been a financial journalist in print and online for 12 years.

Ruth Sullivan has worked as a financial/business journalist and foreign correspondent and for the past 10 years has been at the FT.